"A person should always be patient like Hillel and not stringent like Shammai." Does this not depend on what a person is like? If the person is from the merciful source then the person will be patient like Hillel, or is from the valiant source and will be like Shammai. The answer on this matter is that, in truth, a person is responsible for leaning towards mercy when the person is from a valiant source, having been granted the ability to overcome his (or her) nature and direct it. The negative side in the valiant person can be remedied by dealing in a mitzvah or something that does not harm the person or others, as they, of blessed memory said: either a butcher or a circumciser or a blood-letter…